Babies arrive already connected.

That’s what a range of sciences is now telling us: that they have brains already tuned in to other people’s body rhythms and vocal tones and movements.

It makes them much more communicative and sophisticated than we often realise.

In fact, it turns out that their very brain pathways are shaped by the kinds of responses that they receive from other people.

“So, to build the kind of society that we all want, we need to pay more attention to the way that we relate to our youngest children. I guess you could say that science is helping us to understand why it is that the way we love our children matters so much.”